Why You Must Learn Investing and Personal Finance

Everyone Needs to Learn Investing and Personal Finance

During our time in school, we are taught a variety of subjects, ranging from the Sciences to Mathematics to Arts and Humanities. Most of us would regard that the very purpose of learning the respective subjects is to equip us with the relevant skills that will assist us in our future, especially life after we’ve graduated from school.

While there could be various reasons, the core principle is that it would help us qualify for our jobs, e.g. an accountant would need to be educated in accountancy while an engineering degree is almost certainly required for industrial jobs.

There is however, a necessary skill that wasn’t taught to us during our time as students. It doesn’t matter what your job is, what your race, gender or even interest is because it is absolutely vital to learn this skill, even if you don’t like it.

The skill in question is non-other than the Knowledge of Investing and Personal Finance.

Why is Investing and Personal Finance a Must?

While it can be considered important to be acquainted with other fields of knowledge (unless you have a particular interest in something), it is seldom important to understand them deeply.

For example, while Geography allows us to understand the inner workings of nature, it is most certainly not a necessity in our daily life. Even for Social Sciences such as Economics; while it explains the phenomenon of our society (perhaps making a good conversation starter), you can probably survive without it. You might ask a simple question such as “what are the pros and cons of inflation?”, and chances are, you’ll most likely find that people are unable to answer it satisfactorily. Still, we are able to lead our lives properly without much difficulties.

Looking at it from a different perspective, the story couldn’t be more different for Investing and Personal Finance. Let’s consider when you’re getting your first paycheck, you’re probably asking yourself a number of questions or making decisions that involve personal finance and investing, such as:

What should I do with my salary?

How much of my salary should I spend? What’s my budget?

Do I need to buy insurance now? And how much?

Should I be saving some money? And how much?

What are the most suitable investments I can make?

How much should I invest now?

Then Why Do You Work?

While those who have just gotten their first paycheck might not have been taught investing and personal finance, it can be expected or rather, assumed that their finances should be planned well and that they start investing prudently as they step into adulthood and be part of the financial world.

For those that are ignorant on this matter, it’s no wonder why there are still “educated” people around falling for financial fraud and money-related scams. It also explains why we are still witnessing high-income earners falling into bankruptcy because of mishandling their finances.

One of the common often questions asked is “what’s the main purpose of our job?”. Some might say that it’s for aspirations and interests, but most people will admit that it’s to earn a living. Now then, if you were asked “do you intend to work for a living forever?”, your answer will most likely be no, right?

If that’s the case, have you started planning for the day when you’ll stop working?

The Goal of Investing and Personal Finance

It’s without a doubt that we all look forward to the day we retire and enjoy our well-earned freedom. But remember this: to retire, you need to be financially free! This means earning a level of passive income that can sustain your desired lifestyle, without having to work at all! In order to achieve that goal, you’ll need to know how to invest, as well as how to manage your personal finance. Unfortunately, many people are lacking in this aspect.

However, it is not too late to start and you can still acquire this knowledge, even after you have graduated from school! What’s even more interesting is that there is no pre-requisite to learn how to invest or manage your personal finance, meaning that you do not need to have any prior investing or financial background to do so!

For starters and to gain some insights, you can read our previous article on how to start investing in Singapore to help you have a better idea of what investing is all about!

So why not invest your time with us by registering for our FREE value investing masterclass to learn how you can start investing and managing your personal wealth?

You’ll find that it’s actually easier than you think to help you retire comfortably.

This article was written by Pete Tan

Pete was an ex-civil servant and is now currently one of the trainers at VIC. Being passionate about sharing the knowledge of investing and money management, he has coached students from all walks of life in wealth creation to help them achieve financial freedom.